This invention relates to a composition containing an inorganic substance derived from skins of marine organisms and chitin/chitosan, and to a method of producing the composition.
In the medical field, a composition as a medical biomaterial is known. As a specific example, a composition for jaw bone regeneration is known in the field of dental treatment. The composition is called an osteoconduction substance.
When the osteoconduction substance is implanted or embedded between a jaw bone and gingiva after a surgical treatment for a periodontal disease, the osteoconduction substance exhibits an ability of creating a new bone by a function of increasing osteoblasts. Alternatively, the osteoconduction substance creates a new bone if it is implanted in the vicinity of a bone or into a bone.
The osteoconduction substance is produced by preparing a powder mixture of apatite and animal bone meal and kneading the powder mixture with chitosan sol obtained by dissolving chitosan by an acidic aqueous solution. In most cases, the animal bone meal is obtained from bone tissues of domestic animals, such as bovine bones and pig bones (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H5-220211).
Recently, however, a problem of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is exposed. In particular, it is pointed out that the osteoconduction substance using bovine bone powder as a material brings a potential risk of human infection by a pathogenic agent. Thus, in the medical field, it is desired to obtain a novel composition in view of the safety and a limited amount of resources.